But really, most horses are pretty motivated to amuse you when they know what you want and theres something in it for them.Rolling is essential to the horse. It scratches their backs and aligns vertebrae properly, dries sweat off them even in the winter and looks like so much fun that theres almost always guaranteed to be a chain reaction with all other equines within viewing distance. Rolling is a good thing.
So here are the ingredients, fool proof way of teaching your horse to roll.
First start with a sweaty horse. Especially helpful if there are a lot of bugs and it's hot out and the horse is a particular spotty grey mare. We just got done driving a few miles so Indigo was pretty sweaty.
"Who me?"Hose said sweaty horse until cooled down and nice and wet.
"You ruined my stink!"Optional: use a sweat scraper to avoid being shook all over. Do so quickly. I missed the punch and got sweaty water in my eyes when someone decided to swat flies and shake down wind.
Let horse out to mow down weeds in the round pen... Then turn your back for a second to get the camera to take pictures for this tutorial of horse eating weeds wile it dried off.
Shriek in horror!!
The faster you run and the louder you scream the quicker they get down and roll around in the filth.
Oh dear.
Oh my.
Not very lady like there Indigo.
Then you cry.
Cry long and hard because now you have to de-tangle this.
Once you are done sobbing tell your horse you love em anyway, no matter how much sticks and dirt and things they have stuck in their previously combed and clean mane.Back to the drawing board.
But if you are really ambitious, teaching your horse to roll/sit this way is easy.
Just add a few carrots when they get down to cover themselves in dirt. Works especially if they are a grey/white/dirt reveling colour or really, really need to be clean this instant.
9 comments:
Ha! Pie and Sovey know this trick too! Very talented, Indigo and "trainer".
Hehe, clever horse, great pics!!
My flea bitten gray does this in the grass and comes up with not only dirt spots but lovely green grass spots. She seems to enjoy it immensely and I like the color green :)
This post cracked me up because we really used to teach our ponies to roll on command. We'd show all day long, and after the show, when the arena was cleared, we'd walk our ponies out there and they'd roll in that wonderful soft, cool sand on the lead. It would take a while the first few times, but eventually they learned the routine. I never had a problem with one rolling when I didn't want them to, because they'd know from my body language (facing them, really loose lead, hunched over, letting them nose the ground) when they were supposed to roll and when they weren't :)
My Annie does the same thing, but she gets dredd locks if I don't comb her out all the time. What a mess that can be.
Cute post! And...oh, so true!
The more you want them to stay clean, the more they will scrunch in the dirt for you!
Also, the degree of difference between the horse's color and the color of the dirt is correlated to their desire to roll in that dirt!
Our Lady has a dirt fetish too (must be a flea-bitten gray thing :o) I winced when I saw the mane - that's a familiar scenario around here (and don't you just love it? Grrr). Great "photo shoot" though *grin*.
lol! Thanks for the laugh! Sorry you had a mess to clean up! But it sure does look like fun for the mare. Maybe she just wanted to be petted and primped some more.
Thanks for a laugh! Sure looks like she enjoyed herself there!
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